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LifeSteps® Program

16 “Steps” Week-by-Week Overview

Each weekly session, or “Step,” introduces a new concept and key behavior for weight loss. Sessions are highly interactive and incorporate group discussion, role play, problem solving and more. Each session provides a “road map” for content delivery, including the following:

Key behavior and concept review: Why They Help with Weight Loss

Self-assessment: Where Are You Now?

Hands-on practice: Activity That Reinforces Concepts Introduced

Action planning: Nutrition and Physical Activity Behaviors

The LifeSteps® Leader serves as a facilitator for change while providing information, support and guidance. Participants adjust their goals and action plan as they gain new insights and practice new behaviors.

Pre-program Sessions: Orientation Session and Initial Interview

These two sessions are a win for you and win for your participants. Participants who attend both these sessions are more likely to stick with the program and lose weight.

Group Orientation Session – Individuals who are interested in LifeSteps® learn about what’s involved and decide if they are ready to make lifestyle changes that will lead to weight loss.

One-on-One Initial Interview – This interview helps you determine whether the client is ready to embark on a lifestyle change journey. Using motivational interviewing, you assess:

Health status and weight history

Readiness for change

Willingness to do required activities, including daily food tracking and regular physical activity

Steps 1-5: Learning the Basics

Knowledge is key to successful behavior change. Learning the basics of nutrition and physical activity sets the foundation for creating a personal plan for lifestyle change.

Step 1: Monitoring – Learn the importance of monitoring in weight management and how to keep a Food and Activity Record.

Step 2: Physical Activity – Learn the importance of physical activity and make a plan for increasing activity levels.

Step 3: Guide to Daily Food Choices – Learn the importance of eating a variety of foods from the Five Food Groups and develop a healthy eating plan based on the MyPlate recommendations.

Step 4: Serving Size – Learn how to weigh and measure food and develop an eye for standard serving sizes.

Steps 6-8: Individualized Action Planning

Participants’ lifestyles are all different. These three “Steps” help them identify and prioritize nutrition, activity and behavior changes that meet their needs.

Step 6: Putting It All Together – Develop a personal plan for reducing calories by decreasing food intake, increasing physical activity or both based on the information learned in the first five “Steps” and individual lifestyle goals.

Lapses can be small or large. What’s important for successful behavior change is how they are managed to stay on track for reaching weight loss goals.

Step 9: Managing Lapses, Dealing with Your Environment – Learn what constitutes a “lapse” and how environmental cues, such as the availability and visibility of food, affect how much we eat and strategies for eliminating or decreasing them.

Step 12: Managing Lapses, Dealing with Other People – Develop strategies for dealing with people who overtly or unconsciously encourage eating and identify steps for soliciting support.

Step 13: Managing Lapses, Eating Out– Plan strategies for staying on track while eating away from home in a variety of settings.

Steps 14-16: Preparing for the Future

Weekly classes are coming to end; however, weight management is a lifelong process. These final “Steps” help participants take pride in the progress they’ve made and own their process of making healthy lifestyle changes.

Step 15: Final Interview – One-on-one interview to evaluate participant’s LifeSteps® experience, provide feedback and set goals for the future

Step 16: Staying in Step – Learn a six-step process for maintaining behavior changes established during the program and how to continue setting and achieving weight loss goals.

Maintenance Sessions

LifeSteps® includes 11 additional Maintenance Sessions that you can use to offer continued support after your LifeSteps® Program ends. These sessions extend the program’s 16 core steps and provide additional support, skill building and practice.

Two Online Options

If you’re qualified to become a LifeSteps® Leader, all you need is a computer, an Internet connection and 6 weeks to complete the LifeSteps® Leader Training Course! No matter which option you choose, you complete the course at your own pace, on your own time, in the convenience of your home or work setting. It just needs to be completed in a continuous, 6-week period. You can:

Apply for a Scheduled Course – Interact with others who are completing the training, too. Applications due 3 weeks before scheduled course.

Upcoming course dates: –September 25-November 17, 2017

Arrange for Individualized Self-study – This is a great option if our dates don’t fit your schedule or you need to complete the training now. Contact tracy@lifestepsweight.com for more information.

Leader Training

About the Course

The course covers everything you need to know to launch a successful LifeSteps® program. It:

Certifies you to deliver LifeSteps® in a variety of setting, including worksites, private medical practices, fitness centers and wellness and bariatric clinics.

Provides RDNs with 15 CPEs that can be completed on your schedule, in your home or office.

Course Objectives

After completing the Leader Training, you will be able to:

Identify all components of the LifeSteps® Weight Management Program.

Know how to use each component effectively.

Apply cognitive-behavioral strategies and group facilitation skills in a weight management setting.

Understand when and how to provide behavioral feedback to clients.

Apply goal setting concepts to specific client situations.

Function as an independent contractor of the LifeSteps® Weight Management Program.

Market and promote the program.

What’s Included

Both course options include the following:

Required, background reading

PowerPoint presentations

“Hands on” assignments using the LifeSteps® program materials

Review through quizzes and tests

Idea sharing

Two Online Options

If you’re qualified to become a LifeSteps® Leader, all you need is a computer, an Internet connection and 6 weeks to complete the LifeSteps® Leader Training Course! No matter which option you choose, you complete the course at your own pace, on your own time, in the convenience of your home or work setting. It just needs to be completed in a continuous, 6-week period. You can:

Apply for a Scheduled Course – Join in and interact with others who are completing the training, too.

Arrange for Individualized Self-study – This is a great option if our dates don’t fit your schedule or you need to complete the training now. Contact tracy@lifestepsweight.com for more information.

Apply to Be a Leader

We are proud to say it! “Not just anyone can teach LifeSteps® ! Only Registered Dietitian Nutritionists (RDNs) and qualified health professionals can become LifeSteps® Leaders.” It’s what sets LifeSteps® apart from other weight management programs and one way we maintain the integrity and quality of the program.

All non-RDN applicants must demonstrate ongoing continuing education in nutrition through workshops, seminars, conferences, etc. within the last 5 years and meet one of the following criteria:

Hold a degree in nutrition from an accredited college or university, OR

Hold a 4-year degree in a related health field and have completed a minimum of one college-level course in human nutrition, OR

Hold a 4-year degree in a non-related field, have 5 years’ work experience in a health-related field, and have completed a minimum of one college-level course in human nutrition from an accredited college or university within the past 5 years.

(CDR #LS001)

LifeSteps® is a Continuing Professional Education Accredited Provider through the Commission on Dietetic Registration

Leader Requirements

We are proud to say it! “Not just anyone can teach LIFESTEPS® ! Only Registered Dietitian Nutritionists (RDNs) and qualified health professionals can become LIFESTEPS® Leaders.” . It’s what sets LifeSteps® apart from other weight management programs and one way we maintain the integrity and quality of the program.

Non-RDN Applicants

All non-RDN applicants must demonstrate ongoing continuing education in nutrition through workshops, seminars, conferences, etc. within the last five years and meet one of the following criteria:

Hold a degree in nutrition from an accredited college or university, OR

Hold a 4-year degree in a related health field and have completed a minimum of one college- level course in human nutrition, OR

Hold a 4-year degree in a non-related field, have five years’ work experience in a health-related field, and have completed a minimum of one college-level course in human nutrition from an accredited college or university within the past five years.

Intellectual Property Rights

(CDR #LS001)

All applicants who are accepted into the course must sign and return a LIFESTEPS® Leader Agreement that outlines LIFESTEPS® intellectual property rights.

LIFESTEPS is a Continuing Professional Education Accredited Provider through the Commission on Dietetic Registration

Target Audience

LifeSteps® is appropriate for a wide ranging audience of people who want to lose weight for any number of reasons. It’s for people…

With medical conditions, such as prediabetes or diabetes, hypertension, knee and joint issues, sleep apnea or any condition where losing weight – even small amounts – can make a big difference.

Who suffer from “diet burnout” and have tried numerous diets without success.

Who simply want to look and feel better.

Readiness Is Key

Regardless of the motivation for losing weight, a person has to be READY for LifeSteps®. It is for the individual who WANTS to lose weight for personal reasons, not because someone has told them they “should” or “need” to lose weight.

Attend LifeSteps® classes and be part of a group that can support them.

Commit to healthy, realistic weight loss goals and take the weight off slowly.

Challenge their current attitudes and beliefs about food, physical activity and weight.

Engage family, friends and others who will support their lifestyle changes.

Why Small Groups

LifeSteps® is designed for groups of 10-18. This size allows for a healthy combination of discussion, content review, sharing, accountability and group support. This size group is small enough to provide personal contact that supports successful behavior change, but big enough for dynamic and robust interaction.

Why Leaders Like Them

Cost and time effective

Fun and enjoyable to facilitate

Participants come up with answers and solutions, too

Two-way learning – The leader learns from the group and the group learns from the leader

Problem solving and accountability that is not available with one-on-one counseling

Peer modeling that makes your job easier and has a profound impact on the entire group

Why Participants Like Them

Everyone shares the common goal of lifestyle change and weight loss

Everyone works on similar challenges

Participants benefit from the shared experience and learn from others in the group

They’re “part of something bigger”

Find new support and feel understood knowing they are not alone in this challenge